Hi new to yhis forum and have a question if anyone can answer, here goes work for a company who modify trucks, these trucks are not registerd but have trade plates to go on the road for road test. just recently we have had a couple of these in with 9.990kg these are usually 7.495kg. i dont have a class 2 can i drive the 9.990kg on road test or is i breaking the law, also they are on about changing the plate from 9.990kg to 7.495kg.( Dont know if they are breaking the law here ) i dont have the answer to this question and dont know where to find it as my employer dosent seem botherd, hoping anyone on here can answer it. these trucks are bear chassis with cab (there is no box on the back,) also they are all electric eg (only 2 pedals) i passed my test in 1984 and my pcv in 2003 (semi auto) something dosent seem right here any help would be appreciated thanx bubba
First impression. I would say not.
However, if the intention was to down rate the MGW by, as would be usual, fitting smaller tyres, then, had such changes been carried out, there is arguably a degree of lattitude that could be exercised prior to the paperwork being completed.
Rather than ‘going off on one’ (as the saying goes), Having voiced my concerns, and then not having received a definitive (or satisfactory) answer, I’d be inclined to invoke the Company ‘Grievance Procedure’. In that way you will have documented that you identified a discrepancy and brought it to their attention.
Thats an interesting scenario bubba. Downplating is quite common, and therefore under 7.5 tonne would be C1. I have an idea that there may be some special case for electric vehicles, but my reaction is that you really should have a Cat C licence.
Then as you can drive a Cat D vehicle on a Cat C licence, providing certain criteria are met, mainly not carrying passengers, I wonder if as the vehicle is electric, therefore gearless (i.e. automatic), it is reasonable to assume that your CatD automatic would cover you. You could argue that as it is a chassis cab then it could be having a ‘bus type’ body built on it.
Best bet is to give VOSA a ring and ask - you should be able to do it anonymously.
so they are asking employees with a normal car licence would this be ok or not!!!
Not until the vehicle has been downplated, and only then if they have C1 on their licences (generally pre 1997 licence).
So call me thick but is that removing the originall sticker and putting our own plate on with 7.495kg■■? does that make it legall to drive!!
Downplating is more straightforward than it used to be. the old way was to take some bolts out of the chassis or replace the propshaft bolts with smaller ones. It was a stupid way and someone in the ministry realised that.
So I remember that we could then downplate caravan lorries with not much more than a paper exercise.
Right now i think i get it by changing something on the vehical you are downgrading it (changing something wheel size, propshaft bolts, changing it to ELECTRIC!!! as it was ment to have a deisel engine it is now totally different■■?
Getting tired, can you tell (spelling) thanx for the quick replys, have something to work with now, prob ask vosa to be on the safe side, great forum will let yous know the outcome, cant say thanx enough bubba good night god bless.
To get the authoratitive answer you would need to ring VOSA, but here’s my 2p worth.
While it’s plated at 9990kg, you will need a C licence to drive it. Once it’s downplated to 7495kg you will be able to drive it on C1.
Downplating is, afaik, a relatively simple paper exercise. If it’s a new vehicle that has yet to be registered then it might well be as simple as changing the plate, if it’s already registered and has a VOSA plate then you need to get that updated too.
Again I’ll say though, you need to ask VOSA to get an accurate answer.
Paul
Smart Mart:
Then as you can drive a Cat D vehicle on a Cat C licence, providing certain criteria are met, mainly not carrying passenger
As mentioned in another thread the criteria are much more restrictive than simply not carrying passengers.
they must have getting some info somewhere because thev put a 7.495kg plate on the truck untill its reg and then made it a 9.999kg when it finally gets the box section put on